Fox of France

General Pope had just lost his eldest son in a new round of unsuccessful attacks. This made him extremely sad, but it also made him breathe a sigh of relief-now, no one can accuse him of being unfavorable in the previous battle and intentionally treason.

So after losing his eldest son, General Pope immediately stopped almost all offensive operations and started a confrontation with the British. And when Napoleon arrived with the Fifth Army, the two sides had been sitting in war for a long time.

Napoleon was not quick, for all the way here he had been training the army with the new toys that Joseph had given him. But when his army arrived, Napoleon was quick to act.

Napoleon first visited Pope and learned some information about the enemy's defense that he had exchanged the lives of soldiers for. Pope gave this information very simply, because he knew that General Napoleon had a close relationship with some of the guys above. If he makes a stumbling block at this time, even if he dies the eldest son and the second son, it may not have any good results.

After Napoleon got the information, he said goodbye to Pope very politely, but when he walked out of Pope's barracks, he couldn't help saying to the guards who followed him: "I really don't understand, how could he be so ignorant?" Prepared for a hard attack? How did he become a general?"

But in fact, Pope cannot be blamed for this matter. , because this approach is actually a common phenomenon. Most of the French generals in the Republic period lacked experience and talent. In addition, the soldiers of the Republic were generally undertrained, and they could not play complex tactics. It was almost a common habit of French generals during the Republic period to be indecisive on the battlefield. What's more terrible is that relying on this approach, the army of the Republic has really won many victories. And such a victory has strengthened the status of this practice. As a result, such no brains became the orthodoxy of the French army.

Back at his barracks, Napoleon carefully studied the map he brought back, called Davout and others in, and set up a reconnaissance mission. After a few days of investigation, Napoleon called several division commanders under him together to discuss the offensive.

Napoleon decided that Mulgrave Fort was the key to the battle. If this fortress can be captured, the port of Toulon can be bombarded directly with the cannons erected there. And once the port of Toulon is exposed to the firepower of the cannon, the British will not be able to guarantee the various supplies of Toulon, and they will have no other choice but to retreat.

"General Pope fought clumsily in front, but no matter how clumsy he acted, it was meaningful. General Pope tried to break into Toulon from the front. Of course it was stupid, but his stupid behavior also led to the stupidity of those British According to the information we have obtained, the British should have put their main force on the front of the port of Toulon. As a result, their defense of the Margrave Fortress was somewhat neglected. You see, this is Toulon still The map of the time in our hands. And this is a newly drawn map through investigation."

While speaking, Napoleon uncovered the expired map on the table, revealing the new map underneath.

"You see, since Toulon fell into the hands of the British, the size of the fortress of Margrave has obviously expanded. Judging from the current scale, it should be equipped with more than thirty cannons. And in order to defend it, the British The people are still here, and here, they each built a small fortress, echoing the Mulgrave Fortress. If there are enough defenders in these fortresses, it may take a huge sacrifice to capture these fortresses. However, some time ago, the military flags on these forts were changed, and the British flag was replaced by the Spanish flag. That is, the British put more combat troops on the front, and they felt that it was not us here focus of attack."

"General, when shall we attack?" Augereau asked.

"It's not in a hurry, we still need more preparations. First, we need to make the enemy feel that our attack is still focused on the front." Napoleon said, "Therefore, I need to maintain a certain amount of pressure on the front to make the British feel that our attack is still on the front." For the next round of attack, the target is still frontal."

"General, are you planning to launch a feint attack from the front?" Davout frowned and asked, "But the degree of the feint attack is difficult to control. If the number of people involved is small, the enemy cannot be attracted; if more people are involved, the loss will be greater." It's going to be big."

Napoleon smiled: "Am I that stupid? Let me tell you a way, you can..."

After breakfast, Lieutenant Hale, as usual, boarded the lookout post of the battery and looked towards the French. Although the French are no longer rushing here like before, it is always right to be vigilant.

There was little movement from the French, as if they had given up trying. However, it said that the French reinforcements had just arrived, and there might be some action at some point, so they still needed to be cautious.

At this time, something seemed to move on the distant skyline. Hale quickly raised his binoculars and looked over there.

"The French! The French again!" cried Hale.

The French came again, but the French army of the French army stopped outside the range of the cannons, and then Hale saw through the glass that the Frenchmen began to swing picks and shovels, as if they were digging trenches.

It is not uncommon in Europe to dig ditches around the fortified city to cut off the traffic between the city and the outside world. But Toulon is not an ordinary city, it is a seaport, can the French still dig a trench on the sea?

Although Hale was puzzled, he quickly reported this information to his superiors.

Soon, a group of officers appeared on the observation deck. Everyone held up their binoculars and looked over there.

"What are the French doing?"

"Dig a trench, but... it seems that it is not a horizontal trench, but a vertical trench." An officer suddenly said, "They want to dig directly in front of us like this!"

"A bunch of ground mice!" an officer sneered. In this era of demeanor in war, this kind of gopher approach will indeed make many people look down on it.

But many more did not laugh. Digging like a field mouse like this is of course very imposing and unsightly, but after thinking about it carefully, they found that the French really made sense in doing so. At least doing so can greatly reduce the effect of their artillery, really let them dig in front of them, and then let the French suddenly rush up to fight the bayonet, it is really difficult to handle. The number of British and Spaniards is limited, but the human resources on the French side are not comparable to the British and Spaniards. Toulon is really dangerous if such a scuffle is carried out.

"It will take at least three or four days for them to dig far enough to launch an attack." An officer said, "We have to prepare for a fierce battle."

The French gophers were even faster than the British expected. Because even at night, they did not stop moving, they lit torches, and kept digging forward. The British tried to fire a few shots, but it was not easy for the shells to enter the trench, and the trenches dug by the French There is also a slight turning point, so even if the shells hit it, it is difficult to hit people. Seeing the poor effect of the shelling, the British simply stopped, and seriously prepared for the next fight. The morale of the French army was high, and the performance of bayonet warfare was very good, but the bayonets of the British lobster soldiers were not vegetarian.

Depending on the number of trenches dug by the French, their charge may involve thousands of men. Therefore, the British concentrated all the forces that could be concentrated on the front as much as possible, preparing to withstand the impact of the French.

"General, we have observed about two companies of Spaniards leaving Fort Mulgrave. Probably transferred to the front as well," said an officer to Napoleon.

"Very good. Davout, tomorrow morning, you should be able to enter the attack range?" Napoleon turned his head and asked.

"Dig another night today, and we will indeed be within attack range tomorrow morning." Davout replied.

"Okay, tomorrow morning, Davout, you will lead the troops into the starting position and make an attack posture. Augereau, tomorrow morning, we will go to launch a general attack on the Mulgrave Fort. Davout, you must make a full posture to attract Stop the British and buy time for our attack."

"Understood, General!" Davout and Augereau responded together.

That night, the British and Spaniards kept approaching against the French gophers. Farther away, the French gophers also built artillery forts. Brits and Spaniards know that tomorrow is the decisive moment.

...

Lucien and Chrysler led the women of the Bonaparte family out quietly in the dark. For the convenience of movement, the girls all changed into boys' clothes. Everyone came to the beach in the dark, and several fishing boats appeared in their sight.

"Such a boat? Is this kind of boat okay?" Letizia asked.

"Don't worry, Mom! It's okay. We came here on these boats." Lucien said indifferently, then he turned his head and said to Chrysler: "Mr. Chrysler, do you think my brother and the others are already in the land Did Lun fight those British people? We are rushing over now, and we don’t know if we can see the fighting.”

"I don't know about that," Chrysler said, "but General Bonaparte is still in Paris now. Even if he wants to go south, it shouldn't be so fast."

"I'd really like to see a war," Polina interrupted suddenly.